Barker Post Office

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Barker Post Office. Now, some stories start with a bang. This one starts with a railroad and a man named G.

T. Miller, which, if you know anything about Texas, amounts to about the same thing. The settlement that became Barker grew up along the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad in the late 1890s, the kind of place that springs up wherever the rails decide to stop long enough to be interesting.

Miller saw the opportunity and applied for a post office in 1898. He tucked it right into a corner of his store, which also happened to serve as a saloon. So yes, you could mail a letter and get a drink in the same building.

Texas has always been efficient that way. Then came the storm of 1900. It damaged the structure, the way that storm damaged just about everything it touched.

Postmaster Miller was not a man to be stopped by wind and rain. He moved the post office to the east side of the Barker-Clodine Road, rebuilt the whole thing, and kept right on sorting mail. He held that postmaster role until 1911.

The story then skips forward to 1967, when the post office moved again, this time to a new location on the Katy Freeway, Interstate Highway 10. It earned a third-class designation in 1969, climbed to second-class in 1977, and then, in 1978, the postal service looked at this scrappy little office and considered shutting it down entirely. That is the moment the residents of Barker had something to say about it.

They rallied. They saved it. And in 1981 the post office was designated first class, which feels like the community getting the last word.

It moved one more time, to Baker Road in 1984. From a saloon corner in 1898 to first class in 1981, that post office earned every stamp.

What the marker says

The settlement that became Barker developed on the Missouri-Kansas-Texas railroad in the late 1890s. G. T. Miller applied for a post office in 1898. It occupied a corner of his store, which also was used as a saloon. The structure was damaged in the 1900 storm, and postmaster Miller moved it to the east side of the Barker-Clodine Road and rebuilt it. He remained postmaster until 1911. Moved to a new location on the Katy Freeway (Interstate Highway 10) in 1967, it was designated a third-class post office in 1969 and a second-class office in 1977. In 1978 the postal service considered closing it, but residents rallied and saved it. Designated first class in 1981, the post office moved to baker road in 1984. (2001)